Jews are substantially overrepresented on the list of the songwriters of the standards that define the popular culture of the United States. The musicology behind that truth – the connections between Jewish liturgical chanting and folk songs and the jazz-influenced pop tunes American Jewish composers turned out – has been commented on a good bit. But what about the words? The roster of top lyricists in the American Songbook is also overwhelmingly Jewish, but what did that mean to their output? There are a few theories, all interesting and none completely convincing. We’ll spotlight those theories, hear examples by, among others, Ira Gershwin, Yip Harburg, Oscar Hammerstein, Dorothy Fields, Stephen Sondheim. And, I hope, stimulate some discussion among ourselves of just how ÒJewish’ these songs are.

After a long career as a magazine writer, Dan Moskowitz (a member of Micah for more than 50 years) now spends a lot of time developing the courses and talks on American popular song he gi